With massive deficits facing New Mexico, the debate over what spending should be “on the table” or “off” has begun. Democrats say all education spending should be sacrosanct. Several Democratic Senators went so far as to urge higher teacher pay.
As US Census data clearly show, the state spends far more heavily on administration than even the next-highest state:
New Mexico also spends rather heavily on education relative to its neighbors. As seen in the chart below (derived from the same Census data), New Mexico considerably outspends its neighbors on a per-pupil basis.
Performance has not been forthcoming. Perhaps it would be worthwhile for New Mexico legislators and education bureaucrats to consider studying what our neighbors are doing to obtain better results for less money.
And aren’t the amounts that we spend on education even higher when you take into account how far $100 goes in each state? I think that the Tax Foundation recently published a report showing how much $100 buys in each state. In N.M., $100 buys MORE than the national average of what $100 buys, whereas in some expensive states, such as Hawaii, $100 only buys the equivalent of $82 worth of goods and services.